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Let's talk coil over shocks

Vombrown

Vombrown

Mountain Man
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so with my build needing them I've been looking at coil overs. It seems the name to know is King coil overs. Man they are proud of them. PRICEY! There there is fox, for a little less. Popularity seems to be about the same as King. Lastly there is FOA? I seem to be seeing mixed reviews on them. Some like them and others think they are cheap junk. I don't have any perspective so I thought you guys might help me get some. FOA, FAO is certainly cheaper, a LOT cheaper actually.

I won't know what I need until I get a little further along in the build to get all my weights and lengths sorted so I'm just looking to look at this point. Help me out here. Also is there is a source for used coil overs I'd love to hear it. Might be something I can use in moch up, never know.

Thanks Gentlemen.
 
I am a sway a way fan due to the fact that Fox and King said my truck could not be built. Sway A Way took it as a challenge. AFE power bought Sway A Way a while back. Built a new manufacturing facility, and you can call and talk to their techs, then buy directly from them. Fox and King are through distributors only.

Mine have been on my truck for 12 years next month. Finally had to fix a seal before BB last year.

Racedezert.com has a classifieds section.
 
Alrighty then....Shock hoops or shock towers? Shock hoops would be Ala Off-road design with the engine cage, or shock towers from Ruff stuff specialties?
 
What ever you use, has to be tied side to side. I vote for hoops with coil overs. Has to hold the truck up. Gives more stability and frame tie ins. Shock towers are good for suspension control, not so much carrying the truck weight. Just my 5 cents.
 
I lend towards towers only bc I'm a structural fabricator n I like the idea of structure lol
 
ktmoutfront said:
What ever you use, has to be tied side to side. I vote for hoops with coil overs. Has to hold the truck up. Gives more stability and frame tie ins. Shock towers are good for suspension control, not so much carrying the truck weight. Just my 5 cents.
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The only issue I foresee is running a tall Diesel engine under the hood. To connect the two shock hoops I will likely need to get creative in there.
 
This one has a 5.9 and my old 14" fox resi shocks. Hoops don't need to be real tall but it's certainly recommended to tie them to something or each other.

Screenshot_20171008-141520.png

Screenshot_20171008-141811.png
 
most of the trucks I see have a cage tie like those. I won't have a cage or anything to tie to unless I go over the engine to the other hoop.

Keep in mind guys I am bouncing these ideas off of you dudes playing devils advocate before ordering parts....LOL It will be an intricate part of my front suspension for On road use, it's gotta be steady.
 
King, Fox, Sway a way, radflo, Bilstein, ADS, even profender. I have seen plenty of FOA shocks work really well, also seen plenty leak.

No matter what, like Wade said it needs to be tied together. Tower or hoop, tie em together.

Coilovers take tuning to get the most out of them. Then there's emulsion, remote reservoir, internal bypass.

You'd be fine with emulsion shocks, remote resis help when blasting through rough stuff.

Tuning is important, like get some nitrogen and learn how to take em apart.

It is far far superior suspension to leafs.
 
That's exactly what you need to do. you need something going across bracing the tops of both shock towers/hoops and tying them together. Esp with the factory frame. Like smarter but not as good looking people posted before me said the frame flex combined with the change in suspension geometry will wreck stuff if you don't....and my vote is ORI's..just remember with coilovers you also need buy/mount bump stops, limiting straps and possible a sway bar. That takes up a lot of space. ORI's don't need any of that cause its all in the strut. You also need to plan on buying a few different weight coilover springs cause no one gets the setup correct on the first try.
 
Is anyone driving a truck with coil overs on the street? As in dealing with traffic, driving through town and highway? That's really the folks I want to hear from honestly.
 
Daily drove mine for a little more than a year. 75mph on the freeway and stop and go city traffic. No big deal if it is set up correctly.

But like they said, tunning them is vital. And it's not rocket science. It's just parts. Have the truck done before ordering the coils is important. You need the weight of the front and rear minus the unsprung weight to get the coils right.

Talk to Stephen at ORD, he can set you up with the correct coils. Very knowledgeable.
 
ktmoutfront said:
Daily drove mine for a little more than a year. 75mph on the freeway and stop and go city traffic. No big deal if it is set up correctly.

But like they said, tunning them is vital. And it's not rocket science. It's just parts. Have the truck done before ordering the coils is important. You need the weight of the front and rear minus the unsprung weight to get the coils right.

Talk to Stephen at ORD, he can set you up with the correct coils. Very knowledgeable.
Click to expand...
Won't the upper shock hoop height be determined by the length of the shock? What I'm wondering is the correct sequence of getting things together. Obviously the radius arms locate the axle, trac bar keeps in centered through the range of travel but the coil over determines height. Then bottom link on the axle and upper shock mount can't be determined until I decided on a length of shock first. Correct? The coils are secondary to that, I get that. So for the short run, what length shock do you guys think will be the best setup. I'm only looking for about 5" of lift.
 
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